NewEnergyNews: MORE NEWS, 6-1 (INTELLIGENT TURBINES; SUN SHINES ON NEVADA TRIBAL LANDS; NOT-SO-ECOMAGINATION)/

NewEnergyNews

Gleanings from the web and the world, condensed for convenience, illustrated for enlightenment, arranged for impact...

The challenge now: To make every day Earth Day.

YESTERDAY

THINGS-TO-THINK-ABOUT WEDNESDAY, August 23:

  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And The New Energy Boom
  • TTTA Wednesday-ORIGINAL REPORTING: The IRA And the EV Revolution
  • THE DAY BEFORE

  • Weekend Video: Coming Ocean Current Collapse Could Up Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Impacts Of The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current Collapse
  • Weekend Video: More Facts On The AMOC
  • THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY BEFORE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 15-16:

  • Weekend Video: The Truth About China And The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: Florida Insurance At The Climate Crisis Storm’s Eye
  • Weekend Video: The 9-1-1 On Rooftop Solar
  • THE DAY BEFORE THAT

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 8-9:

  • Weekend Video: Bill Nye Science Guy On The Climate Crisis
  • Weekend Video: The Changes Causing The Crisis
  • Weekend Video: A “Massive Global Solar Boom” Now
  • THE LAST DAY UP HERE

    WEEKEND VIDEOS, July 1-2:

  • The Global New Energy Boom Accelerates
  • Ukraine Faces The Climate Crisis While Fighting To Survive
  • Texas Heat And Politics Of Denial
  • --------------------------

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    Founding Editor Herman K. Trabish

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    WEEKEND VIDEOS, June 17-18

  • Fixing The Power System
  • The Energy Storage Solution
  • New Energy Equity With Community Solar
  • Weekend Video: The Way Wind Can Help Win Wars
  • Weekend Video: New Support For Hydropower
  • Some details about NewEnergyNews and the man behind the curtain: Herman K. Trabish, Agua Dulce, CA., Doctor with my hands, Writer with my head, Student of New Energy and Human Experience with my heart

    email: herman@NewEnergyNews.net

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      A tip of the NewEnergyNews cap to Phillip Garcia for crucial assistance in the design implementation of this site. Thanks, Phillip.

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    Pay a visit to the HARRY BOYKOFF page at Basketball Reference, sponsored by NewEnergyNews and Oil In Their Blood.

  • ---------------
  • WEEKEND VIDEOS, August 24-26:
  • Happy One-Year Birthday, Inflation Reduction Act
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 1
  • The Virtual Power Plant Boom, Part 2

    Monday, June 01, 2009

    MORE NEWS, 6-1 (INTELLIGENT TURBINES; SUN SHINES ON NEVADA TRIBAL LANDS; NOT-SO-ECOMAGINATION)

    INTELLIGENT TURBINES
    'Smart Turbine Blades' To Improve Wind Power
    May 29, 2009 (Sustainable Business via Reuters)

    "Researchers have developed a technique that uses sensors and computational software to constantly monitor forces exerted on wind turbine blades, a step toward improving efficiency by adjusting for rapidly changing wind conditions.

    "The research by engineers at Purdue University and Sandia National Laboratories is part of an effort to develop a smarter wind turbine structure...[which] also could help improve wind turbine reliability by providing critical real-time information to the control system to prevent catastrophic wind turbine damage from high winds…"


    The basics. (click to enlarge)

    "The engineers embedded sensors called uniaxial and triaxial accelerometers inside a wind turbine blade as the blade was being built. The blade is now being tested on a research wind turbine at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service laboratory in Bushland, Texas. Personnel from Sandia and the USDA operate the research wind turbines at the Texas site.

    "Such sensors could be instrumental in future turbine blades that have "control surfaces" and simple flaps like those on an airplane's wings to change the aerodynamic characteristics of the blades for better control. Because these flaps would be changed in real time to respond to changing winds, constant sensor data would be critical."


    A researcher displays an experimental blade design. (click to enlarge)

    "Research findings show that using a trio of sensors and "estimator model" software…accurately reveals how much force is being exerted on the blades. Purdue and Sandia have applied for a provisional patent on the technique…

    "Sensor data in a smart system might be used to better control the turbine speed by automatically adjusting the blade pitch while also commanding the generator to take corrective steps…[and] used to design more resilient blades…The sensors are capable of measuring acceleration occurring in various directions…[and] two types of acceleration….The research is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through Sandia National Laboratories."



    SUN SHINES ON NEVADA TRIBAL LANDS
    Solar energy comes to tribal clinic
    May 30, 2009 (Lahontan Valley News)

    "A new solar energy system is [powering]… the Pyramid Lake Tribal Health Clinic in Nixon…The 30-kilowatt photovoltaic array was made possible by a combination of donated labor and materials, and a program created by the Nevada State Legislature…Labor and materials were donated by the nonprofit Black Rock Solar, and costs for the solar panels were offset by a $138,000 rebate from the SolarGenerations program, which is managed statewide by NV Energy.

    "The panels were installed on the ground in a fenced area next to the clinic and are expected to generate approximately 60,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, or roughly half the clinic’s annual electricity consumption. This will reduce the clinic’s annual electric bill by approximately $7,200 or $180,000 over the expected 25-year life of the panels…Since the start of the program six years ago, over 2 megawatts of solar energy have been installed statewide, and over $8 million in financial incentives has been paid out."


    Pushed onto lands thought in the 19th century to be too burned by the sun and blown by the winds to be productive, Native Americans now find themselves in possession of immense New Energy resources. (click to enlarge)

    "The Tribal Health Clinic provides health care services to the communities of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation…Black Rock Solar is supported by Burning Man and is focused on speeding the adoption of renewable energy by delivering low or no cost solar power to communities in need.

    "Employing an innovative and collaborative approach to solar project development, Black Rock Solar extends Burning Man’s spirit of creativity and environmental stewardship to affect real environmental change, according to Tom Price, executive director of Black Rock Solar…This is the seventh completed project for Black Rock Solar…"



    NOT-SO-ECOMAGINATION
    GE: How Clean (and Not-So-Clean) Tech Drives Ecomagination
    Keith Johnson, May 27, 2009 (Wall Street Journal)

    "…General Electric is still touting the potential for “green” products to save the day.GE said the 80 product lines in its “ecomagination” line tallied $17 billion in sales last year, a 21% jump over 2007 even as most of the conglomerate’s other divisions treaded water or went backwards. GE is aiming for $25 billion in sales in the unit this year…

    "How to explain the success of “ecomagination”? Aside from the growing appeal for everything from wind turbines to efficient locomotives, there are two other reasons. The products GE has certified as part of the “ecomagination” group include plenty of things that at first blush don’t sound very green, and the definition gets broader every year."


    The part of the brain where GE thinks up its advertising campaigns? (click to enlarge)

    [GE’s definition ofEcomagination:] “…Products that significantly and measurably improve customers’ operating performance or value proposition and environmental performance or services that substantially enable such improvements.”

    "…[T]he Jenbacher coal mine gas engine, part of “ecomagination” …turn[s] a potential liability—gas inside coal mines—…into heat and power, in addition to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. There are clear “green” benefits—but all in the name, as GE says, of “making coal mining cleaner.”


    Eco-initiative or marketing initiative? (click to enlarge)

    "…Three years ago, none of GE’s reactors were part of the “ecomagination” energy lineup; today both “Advanced Boiling Water Reactors” and “Economic Simplified Boiler Water Reactors” are part of the mix…Three years ago, GE had just two oil-industry products in “ecomagination”; today there are six, including devices that help oil refineries deal with heavier grades of crude oil with fewer environmental side-effects.

    "Outside of energy, GE is bringing other star divisions into “ecomagination” too—such as healthcare. In 2008, for the first time, GE added four healthcare devices, from X-rays to ultrasounds, to its “ecomagination” lineup…GE has made no bones about its hopes that the world’s appetite for clean stuff will help drive sales and profits at the struggling conglomerate. It’s good to remember that “green” is as expansive a term as the government policies underwriting much of that growth."

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